Abhishek's PostCrossing Journey

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou, Morocco

Morocco-2, originally uploaded by Abhishek's Received Postcards.

Aït Benhaddou is a 'fortified city', or ksar, along the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech in present-day Morocco. It is situated in Souss-Massa-Draâ on a hill along the Ouarzazate River and has some beautiful examples of kasbahs, which unfortunately sustain damages during each rainstorm. Most of the town's inhabitants now live in a more modern village at the other side of the river; however, ten families still live within the ksar.

Medina of Essaouira, Morocco

Morocco-1, originally uploaded by Abhishek's Received Postcards.

Essaouira is an isolated city / wilaya in the western Moroccan economic region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz (#11), on the Atlantic coast.
The Medina of Essaouira (formerly "Mogador") is a UNESCO World Heritage Listed city, as an example of a late 18th century fortified town, as transferred to North Africa.

Portuguese City of Mazagan/El Jadida, Morocco

Morocco-3, originally uploaded by Abhishek's Received Postcards.

El Jadida is a port city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, in the province of El Jadida. From the sea, El Jadida has a very un-Moorish appearance; it has massive Portuguese walls of hewn stone.
El Jadida, previously known as Mazagan, was seized in 1502 by the Portuguese, and they controlled this city until 1769, when they abandoned Mazagão. Its inhabitants were evacuated to Brazil, where they founded new settlement Nova Mazagão (now in Amapá). El Jadida was then taken over by Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah.
The Portuguese Fortified City of Mazagan was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, on the basis of its status as an "outstanding example of the interchange of influences between European and Moroccan cultures" and as an "early example of the realisation of the Renaissance ideals integrated with Portuguese construction technology".

Medina of Marrakesh, Morocco

Morocco-4, originally uploaded by Abhishek's Received Postcards.

Marrakech or Marrakesh, known as the "Red City", is an important and former imperial city in Morocco. It has a population of 1,070,838 (as of 2004), and is the capital of the mid-southwestern economic region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, near the foothills of the snow-capped Atlas Mountains.

Fortified medieval town and Jewish Quarter, Slovakia

Slovakia-2, originally uploaded by Abhishek's Received Postcards.

The card shows Fortified medieval town and Jewish Quarter in Bardejov. Bardejov is a town in North-Eastern Slovakia. It is situated in the Šariš region and has about 33,000 inhabitants. The spa town, mentioned for the first time in 1241, exhibits numerous cultural monuments in its completely intact medieval town centre. The town is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.

St. Nicholas' Church, Bodurzal, Slovakia

Slovakia-1, originally uploaded by Abhishek's Received Postcards.

St. Nicholas' Church in Bodurzal is the orthodox church situated on the castle hill next to the Bratislava Castle. The church was built in 1661 by Paul Pálffy‘s (1589 - 1655) widow Countess Frances, neé Khuen. It is a part of the "Carpathian Wooden Churches" UNESCO World Heritage Site that consists of nine wooden religious buildings constructed between 16th and 18th century in eight different locations in Slovakia. They include two Roman Catholic (Hervartov, Tvrdošín), three Protestant (so-called Articular churches in Hronsek, Leštiny, Kežmarok) and three Greek Orthodox churches (Bodružal, Ruská Bystrá, Ladomirová) plus one belfry in Hronsek.

Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians, Slovakia

Slovakia-3, originally uploaded by Abhishek's Received Postcards.

The Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathian, an outstanding example of undisturbed, complex temperate forests, constitute a transnational serial property of ten separate components (6 in Ukraine and 4 in Slovakia) along a 185 km axis from the Rakhiv Mountains and the Chornohirskyi Range in Ukraine, west along the Polonynian Ridge, to the Bukovské vrchy and Vihorlat Mountains in Slovakia. They contain an invaluable genetic reservoir of beech and many species associated with, and dependent on, these forest habitats. They are also an outstanding example of the recolonization and development of terrestrial ecosystems and communities after the last Ice Age, a process which is still ongoing.

Skocjan Caves, Slovenia

Slovenia-3, originally uploaded by Abhishek's Received Postcards.

Škocjan Caves is a system of limestone caves in the Kras (Karst) region in southwestern Slovenia, containing collapsed dolines, about five kilometres of underground passages, caves more than 200 metres deep and many waterfalls. This is one of the best-known sites in the world for the study of karstic (limestone) phenomena.

Aldabra Giant Tortoise, Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles

Seychelles-1, originally uploaded by Abhishek's Received Postcards.

The Aldabra Giant Tortoise (Geochelone gigantea), from the islands of the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles, is one of the largest tortoises in the world.

Aldabra is a raised coral atoll in the Aldabra Group of islands in the Indian Ocean that form part of the Seychelles. The island is more than 700 miles from Mahé and is closer to the coast of Africa and Madagascar. Virtually untouched by humans, with distinctive island fauna, including the Aldabra Giant Tortoise, the island is designated a World Heritage Site.

Kotor Town and Fortess, Montenegro

Montenegro-1, originally uploaded by Abhishek's Received Postcards.

Kotor is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a most secluded part of Gulf of Kotor.
The old Mediterranean port of Kotor, surrounded by an impressive city wall built by Republic of Venice and the Venetian influence remains dominant among the architectural influences. The Bay of Kotor (Boka Kotorska), one of the most indented parts of the Adriatic Sea is sometimes called the southern-most fjord in Europe (though it is actually a submerged river canyon). With the nearly overhanging limestone cliffs of Orjen and Lovćen one of the great Mediterranean landscapes is created.
In recent years, Kotor has seen a steady increase in tourists attracted by both the natural beauty of the Gulf of Kotor and the old town of Kotor itself.